Democratic institutions and laws are essential, but they cannot bring about democracy on their own. They will only function if they build on a culture of democracy, and our societies will not be able to develop and sustain such a culture unless education plays an essential role. Student engagement is crucial: democracy cannot be taught unless it is practised within institutions, among students and in relations between higher education and society in general.

This 20th volume of the Council of Europe Higher Education Series demonstrates the importance of student engagement for the development and maintenance of the democratic culture that enables democratic institutions and laws to function in practice. This volume covers three aspects of student engagement that are seldom explored: its role in society through political participation and civic involvement; its place in higher education policy processes and policy-making structures; and how student unions represent the most institutionalised form of student engagement. The authors are accomplished scholars, policy makers, students and student leaders.

Contents

PREFACE

A WORD FROM THE EDITORSManja Klemenčič, Sjur Bergan and Rok Primožič

INTRODUCTION – WHAT IS STUDENT AGENCY? AN ONTOLOGICAL EXPLORATION IN THE CONTEXT OF RESEARCH ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENTManja Klemenčič

PART I – STUDENTS’ ROLE IN SOCIETYChapter 1 – Theorising student activism in and beyond the 20th century: the contribution of Philip G. Altbach Thierry M. Luescher‑MamashelaChapter 2 – “I am tired of reading history. Now I want to make it!” The rise and fall of the university campus as a space for social rebellionRómulo Pinheiro and Dominik AntonowiczChapter 3 – Student activism in times of individualisation: the case of SloveniaMirjana UleChapter 4 – “A truly transformative experience”: the biographical legacy of student protest participationBojana Ćulum and Karin DoolanChapter 5 – Parliaments or streets?Milica PopovićChapter 6 – Student union resistance to tuition fees in Finland Leasa WeimerChapter 7 – The role and capacity of youth organisations and student engagement: a comparative study of Serbia, Croatia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” Martin GalevskiChapter 8 – A challenge for student engagement: the decline of the “normal” studentDominic Orr, Froukje Wartenbergh‑Cras and Christine ScholzChapter 9 – Student engagement: the social dimension and role of quality assurance David Crosier

PART III – STUDENT GOVERNANCE Chapter 17 – We are one, but we’re not the same: explaining the emergence of hybrid national student unions Jens Jungblut and Regina WeberChapter 18 – Student engagement in higher education policy making: a view from the Polish representative in the Bologna Follow‑Up GroupBartłomiej BanaszakChapter 19 – Students’ rights: shaping the student movement at national and European levelGabriela BerganChapter 20 – The policy influence strategy of student representatives: a comparative, case‑based survey in Flemish University Colleges (Belgium)Michiel Horsten Chapter 21 – Belonging, social capital and representation: first‑generation students’ voices in Portuguese higher educationAna Sofia Ribeiro Chapter 22 – The quality of representation of international students in higher education governance: a case study of the German Federal State of Schleswig‑Holstein and its higher education institutionsLaura Asarite and Sophie WulkChapter 23 – Student unions and British popular music culturePaul Long

Democratic institutions and laws are essential, but they cannot bring about democracy on their own. They will only function if they build on a culture of democracy, and our societies will not be able to develop and sustain such a culture unless education plays an essential role. Student engagement is crucial: democracy cannot be taught unless it is practised within institutions, among students and in relations between higher education and society in general.

This 20th volume of the Council of Europe Higher Education Series demonstrates the importance of student engagement for the development and maintenance of the democratic culture that enables democratic institutions and laws to function in practice. This volume covers three aspects of student engagement that are seldom explored: its role in society through political participation and civic involvement; its place in higher education policy processes and policy-making structures; and how student unions represent the most institutionalised form of student engagement. The authors are accomplished scholars, policy makers, students and student leaders.